Several years went by where I chose to stay at home on a Sunday morning instead of going to church like I did every week for almost thirty years. There came a point where Sundays turned into a checklist of stuff that had to be done. I got tired of going through the motions because that was what was expected of me.

One chilly winter night last year on Tybee, Sean and I were hanging out at Tybee Island Social Club listening to some great live music by Isaac Smith and his band. I told Sean that I really liked their music and could listen to it all night, which we did.  We had a simple introduction with Isaac before closing the place down and walking a hundred and fifty yards back to our home.

The next morning, Sean found Isaac on Facebook and discovered that he was the worship leader at a church in Savannah. We were both intrigued enough to check it out. This was back when we only left the island, if we just really had to. Isaac was surprised to see us walking into the Tapestry Church meeting at the Habersham YMCA. We had not discussed church or our faith with him at our introduction only two nights prior.

That was about twenty months ago. We found a new church home that day. It came at a good time in our lives. Before then, we had needed a break and change in our church routine. We had never lost faith in what we believed, but we had to find a fresh and new way to walk it out. Which usually involved spending our Sundays at home with our family.

Now that we have a new church home, it is refreshing to go and have a place to sing and worship our God. We have made a handful of friends at our church. It’s different than what we did before. Not necessarily more good or better, just different. We are in a new place where we can just be.

For over twenty years we had been in church leadership as Sean was an ordained minister and associate pastor of our church. Our entire lives and every decision we made revolved around the well being of the church. For a period of several years the congregation of over eighty people met weekly in our home. It was something we gave our lives to. Without going into detail, we gave until we had nothing left to give. We eventually found ourselves empty and alone and pulled out of the church altogether.

On Sundays, we now have a different role, where our hearts can be at rest and hurts of the past are being healed. It is a good place for us now. Since we travel off island for Sundays, but much of our daily business and current commitments are all on Tybee, we have not gotten as close as we’d like with some of our fellow church going friends, but none the less, we are happy to call Tapestry our church home and place of worship.

Our pastor and friend, Andy, spends many hours preparing messages full of wisdom and encouragement, but still challenges living a better life to all who hear it. Something that Sean and I both appreciate is a down to earth person willing to walk it out with those around him. And that’s what we have found at Tapestry.

Feeling a bit under the weather yesterday after returning home from church and after a full and busy week,I was more than ready for some down time.

Alone in my bedroom, listening to nothing but the hum of our air conditioner and rain falling outside my bedroom window. Spending time writing, planning and a general brain dump into my journal. I dozed off to sleep on my own schedule and woke up when I was ready. Sometimes there is nothing better than a Sunday afternoon nap during a summer thunderstorm.

Later, Ava and I hung out on the sofa.  With my phone hooked up to our TV through chromecast, we watched four episodes of “Raising Hope” a retired TV sitcom that is now listed on Netflix. It is about a crazy dysfunctional family that makes us laugh in many ways as they remind us of our own dysfunctional lives.

We each had sketch pads and a box of colored pencils. Drawing pictures of random things as we laughed at the show and just enjoyed existing together, until I was ready to go back to bed and get a full dose of sleep.